There are two virtual certainties every time Amir Johnson plays a basketball game.

One, he will find some way to weasel his way under the basket to grab an offensive rebound in traffic and either tip the ball back in or make one of those little jump hooks from about five feet at which he has become so proficient.

Two, he will limp.

“Nah, not every game,” Johnson said after the Raptors practised here Tuesday afternoon ahead of Wednesday’s game with the Phoenix Suns.

“Just whenever I tweak it, once the pain goes away I can start playing again. (Monday against Golden State) one of those situations where I tweaked it a little bit, started running down the court, limped a little bit and I was fine.”

Johnson’s performance in Oakland on Monday was astonishing and record-setting.

Of his 15 rebounds, he got 12 on the offensive glass, eclipsing the franchise’s single-game record of 10 set last by Chris Bosh in 2010.

And he became the first player in franchise history to have more than 10 offensive boards and be a perfect 10-for-10 from the field in a game he didn’t start.

“To get in the record books, at least it looks like you finally did something that was good,” he said. “Now I can say . . . I hold an NBA record.”

It’s hard to argue that in this season of so many ups and downs, Johnson hasn’t been the team’s most valuable player.

They don’t call plays for him but he scores; he’s battling bigger players fearlessly; he, to use the vernacular, “competes” every night.